


Invisible string

by carnationmilk



Series: The love lasts long [2]
Category: Justice League - All Media Types, Justice League vs. Teen Titans (2016), Teen Titans (Animated Series), Teen Titans - All Media Types, Teen Titans: The Judas Contract (2017)
Genre: Batfamily (DCU) Feels, Childhood Friends, DAMIRAE IS ENDGAME, Domestic Batfamily (DCU), F/M, Just not yet, Song: invisible string (Taylor Swift), Soulmates will find each other, Supes x Raven, This is all Taylor Swift fault
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-15 18:34:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28817865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carnationmilk/pseuds/carnationmilk
Summary: Even though they grew apart, they were closer than they thought. These are a few stories of how they were tyed by some invisible string pulling them together. Will they find each other? The chapters do not have a chronological order.
Relationships: Raven & Damian Wayne, Raven/Damian Wayne
Series: The love lasts long [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2109699
Comments: 21
Kudos: 65





	1. The 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was inspired by "The 1" by Taylor Swift. You can also listen to Folklore, because all this story is based on it.
> 
> Also, I guess you could say there is some BBRae in this but fear not. DamiRae is endgame, just not yet.

_I'm doing good, I'm on some new shit_

_Been saying "yes" instead of "no"_

_I thought I saw you at the bus stop, I didn't though_

  
  


The clock marked 1 AM. 

“I can’t sleep” she stated before rubbing her eyes and then letting her arms fall to her sides, resign.

-

Her fingers typed fast while the microwave announced her water was ready. She stood up and served herself a lavender tea cup, wishing it would get her to sleep. She took a sit once again and looked down at the file infront of her, scrolling it up and down, thinking what else could she add to get an excellent grade. She has been at it for two weeks and she was exhausted. 

Of course everyone always tells the fun part about being at college but no one ever mentions the difficulties of living alone, take care of yourself while trying to succeed on behalf of your scholarship and the, so wasted, promise of a better future.

She stopped her scrolling at the title page.

_Rachel R. Roth_

Her name, or at least half of it.

Her eyes travelled, as if instinctively, to her nightstand and went back again to the file, biting one of her nails, unsure of her thoughts. Her view travelled one last time to the little drawer beside her bed, before staring at the page and moving the pointer to her name. She deleted and wrote again.

_Rachel Raven Roth_

“This is college, people should be mature enough to not mock a bird name” 

Her mind went to an unpleasant memory back when she was 8 and she had just recently moved to Metropolis. She remembered feeling so proud and confident with her second name, however her new classmates didn’t agree with her feelings.

After a whole year of bullying, she decided to never mention her second name ever again. But now, she was in the major leagues. An excellent student, with a full scholarship in one of the best universities in Gotham, living her dream. There was nothing to be ashamed of, she told herself sipping her tea.

She stared at the screen and typed again.

_Rachel R. Roth_

-

It was already past 3 AM when she finally tucked into bed, ready to get some sleep. She layed on her right side, staring at her bureau. 

The thought of a smaller version of herself running through green fields full of laughter cross her mind.

She shook her head and rolled to the other side.

-

“You look like hell” 

“Good morning to you too, Kara” Rachel threw her pack to the cafeteria table before sinking into the chair next to her blond friend. 

“Why are you looking so devastated? You first graders aren’t supposed to look like that yet” She looked at Kara with a little bit of jealousy. How did she manage to look so fresh and ravish so early in the morning whiñe being in her second year? 

“I’ve been working late on a paper due till friday” said sipping the hot beverage on her hands

“At least tell me you are having some coffee” Raven slurp and made a refreshing sound with her mouth once she was done “It’s black tea”

“Why can’t you have some coffee like a regular dead-student?”

“Tea warms can get you enough caffeine to make it to the day”

“If you say so” Kara looked at the time in her cellphone “Oh, I have to go. Have some coffee, for the love of god and don’t stay up too late. Is not worth it.” she picked her bag and turned, ready to leave, but shift to Rachel once again “And please, call your mother. When you don’t answer to her you know I’m the one she’s going to call 24/7”

“I do call her, don’t make me sound like I’m a bad daughter” Kara raised a brow unbelieving. “I will find a moment to call her, soon.”

“Today.” was Kara’s last word before disappearing in the middle of a crowd of students.

_We are here today, at Gotham University, where our favorite billionaire, Bruce Wayne, along with his wife, Selina Kyle, and his children, are inaugurating the new...._

She turned to see the news on the TV, not so far from her table and stared at the personalities in there. Six children, two daughters and four sons. What a party, she thought.

There was some kind of cult in the city made for that family exclusively, everyone loved and praised them. As a foreigner, it was hard for her to understand the relevance of their existence. 

“But they are fine” she admitted to herself as the camera pointed to the Wayne boys and she remained there, observing the scene on the screen. There was some kind of closeness the family would emanate, maybe that’s what everyone adored about them. Some kind of acquantainness, maybe even _familiarity._

Once the camera returned to the main reporter, her eyes fluttered, as if waking up from a dream. She hurried to pick her stuff and leave the place after noticing she had stared too much at the TV.

-

_I guess you never know, never know_

_And if you wanted me, you really should've showed_

_And if you never bleed, you're never gonna grow_

_And it's alright now_

  
  


She was so tired. She’d made it until that moment, but now, she could barely keep her eyes open, she could see the professor speaking but couldn’t retain a word of what she was speaking. Rachel wished she’d had seated at the back of the room rather than the second row so she could at least head and not look so cynical. 

Her eyes, as well as her mind, were running around everywhere trying as hard as possible to keep herself awake. She ended up looking outside the window and started counting the people outdoors.

A man who had just stepped into the place caught her eyes. 

Wide back, dark black hair, golden skin, wearing a black suit. “Well that’s a good looking guy” she thought “Probably a lawyer tho…” she wrinkled her nose at that idea, and for the second time in the day, her mind wandered once again at the thought of her younger self having sweets and hot beverages with someone else, a kid.

“He’d probably looked like him” she smiled, not fully conscious of her own mind. The man walked away, and soon, without any warnings, she fell asleep.

-

A buzz made her jump out of surprise. Cellphone, she thought at realizing the vibration coming out of her sweater pocket. She looked around quickly trying to bring herself back to present. The buzz stopped. The teacher was gone, and almost all of her classmates too. She hurried to save her notebooks when the buzz started once again.

“Yes?!” She said harshly, still pulling herself together. The soft voice of a woman speaked from the other side of the line “Mom, yes, yes I’m just leaving the classroom… I-I’m just tired.” She started walking out of the classroom “Yes, I’m sorry for not calling you this weekend, I was busy working on… Did Kara call you?” Betrayed by her own friend. 

“I’m trying to sleep. I’ve been having some lavender tea at night but… You did what? Mom, that wasn’t necessary, you can not be spending money on things like… What? Mom, mom. Arella!” 

She yelled at her mother who had just left the phone and was now surprised by the light voice of a boy “Oh, hi, Jon! I’m sorry I didn’t mean to yell at you…” Her face softened as she recognized the familiar voice of her old pupil “Is my mom at your house?... I see, well I hope you feel better soon and don’t go easy on your chores, remember my name is still on the game…” a giggle escaped her mouth at her memories with the young boy “Thank you, yes I will take care- You too and… Is Alfred there?... I miss him so much, please, take good care of him.... Cross your heart? Great, say hi to Lois and Clark… Bye!” She hung up the call as she left the building. 

-

_I have this dream you're doing cool shit_

_Having adventures on your own_

_You meet some woman on the Internet and take her home_

  
  


Wednesday was a lighter day for her, she only had one class at midday, so she used this in her favor. Rachel woke up early and sat in front of the computer after having some bread and tea.

Passed 9:30 AM, she heard a knock at her door.

“Miss Rachel Roth?”

“Yes?” she opened wide when realizing it was a postman bringing the package her mother, relentlessly, sent to her on monday. She signed and went back inside.

“She likes to spend money as if we were rich” said studying the package in her hands. What could have her mother sent?

A picture of the both of them a few years ago with an “I miss you” written on the back. She smiled and placed the picture in her bureau.

Next, there was a maroon scarf knitted by Arella, her smile widened up. When picking it up, she noticed small white hairs on it and proceeded to pull the scarf against her face and smell it. “Alfred was definitely sleeping here” said and followed to wrap it around her neck.

And under the cloth she found her treasure.

Tea.

Two jars. One had Chai, from a local tea brand from Metropolis, and the other one…

For a moment she didn’t recognize the jar in her hands. It didn’t have an imprint or signs of being a brand product . It was a vessel made out of glass. The insides was, what it seemed to be, Blacked tea? It also had blue cornflowers. Could it be?

Rachel hurried to open the jar but when looking at it, it was rusty. Of course it was. If she was right, that was a special mix of Earl Grey that she got back in her last summer in San Francisco. She held it firmly and twisted the lid with all her strength. The sound of the corroded metal slipping let her know it was done.

She recalled getting a few cups from the mixed over the years, but at some point, she decided only to drink it in extraordinary situations, but every special occasion never seemed special enough and eventually, somewhere over time, the small vessel of glass ended up forgotten in the cupboard. It took her by surprise when her lungs filled with the scented smell. 

If comfort had a smell, that was the one.

A shiver ran through her body and smiled as she could practically feel the San Francisco’s wind in her head..

The picture of her in the weeds, before her life changed forever. Running free, screaming, crying, smiling, and a hug.

She remembered. “Well, I haven’t seen you in a long time. Your scent seems to be still the same, but...” An idea crossed her mind, and without thinking it twice, she went to the kitchen and prepared a cup of tea.

It warmed her heart and cleared her mind.

“This is nice.” And for a few moments, she felt that everything was alright.

-

_We never painted by the numbers, baby_

_But we were making it count_

_You know the greatest loves of all time are over now_

  
  


Friday came with the end of all Rachel’s projects, she felt the burden releasing her back, as well as her eye bags slowly disappearing.

“Now you look like yourself again” Kara stood in front of here as she placed her purse on the table. “Well, look at you, having a healthy breakfast” Kara seated while Raven took a small piece of fruit into her mouth.

“Well, I already submitted my work, and the exams are not for another two weeks.” she covered up her mouth while chewing and swallowing “I’m a free woman and you can finally take me to know the city better.” said while releasing a sigh, relaxed and calm, but tense when she noticed Kara looking behind her and grinding her a smirk. “I think that maybe someone else can take you out.” Kara’s smile widened while picking her purse and starting to walk away. “What?!” Rachel looked over her shoulder and watched Garfield Logan on the table right behind her, smiling at her and combing his brown and green hair with his fingers while starting to approach her. Rachel turned with panic to Kara, grabbing her by the hand and articulating with her mouth some treats to her friends so she wouldn't leave her alone.

“Come one, you need to socialize, you will have fun. Hello Garfield!” said Kara releasing herself from Rachel’s grip and waving her dark-hair friend out of the cafeteria.

“Well, hello sexy” said the boy taking Kara’s seat with a big smile on his face

“Logan” Raven greeted coldy, without looking at him.

“I heard you are free tonight and want to get to know Gotham, and turns out I am free tonight too and, not that I want to brag, but I’m an excellent company if you want to have fun.”

Raven rolled her eyes. It’s not that Garfield was a bad prospect, but he was so nonchalant. They definitely didn’t have the same definition of fun, plus she had barely talked to him a couple of times after he introduced himself to her and asked her out, which she rejected and it didn’t feel as if it was going to be any different this time.

“I appreciated your offer Garfield but…”

“Ah! You call me by my name, you now see me as an equal” Rachel try to articulate any word but nothing came out and Garfield took the chance to continue talking “Listen, I know you don’t trust me yet but I can be a fun companion”

“Logan” said emphasizing his last name “Thank you but, seriously, I don’t think you will have fun at the places I wish to know and vice versa.” Garfield fake an offended gesture, taking his hand to his chest “I’ve never been insulted like this in my entire life” and follow to make and even more dramatic by taking his hand to his forehead and leading his head back, Rachel snorted at this picture but cover her mouth quickly, trying to passed unnoticed, but failed to.

“Ah! Gotcha!” Garfield pointed at her “Hey, I think you are misjudging me.”

“Now, am I?” Rachel returned and they both stared at each other. “I guess you’ll have to go out with me to know”

Rachel smirked at him and proceeded to take her fork and pinch another piece of fruit and took it to her mouth and chew slowly, without taking her eyes from the boy in front of her. Analysing him. “And, if I were to accept, when would we be leaving?” she finally spoke.

Garfield smiled and started checking his schedule in his mind. He doubted for a moment and grabbed his phone to check the time “We can go right now!” he claimed. “Wait, no.” Something came to his mind “Give me 20 minutes and then we can go”.

“You have 10 minutes, Logan,” she said, tempting the boy’s luck, he smiled and ran out of the cafeteria.

Maybe he wasn’t that bad, was the last thought of Rachel as Garfield disappeared in the crowd.

-

The 10 minutes were almost over and Rachel was already out of the cafeteria looking at the time one more time, ready to leave without Garfield, when he appeared agitated from the running.

“I’m here” Rachel heard and spun to look at Garfield who was barely arriving, leaning his hands on his knees and head down.

“I was about to go.”

“I’m sorry, I have to run to the arts building, but I’m ready and I’m all yours, just let me catch my breath”.

She frowned, but let her eyes travel through his body. He did run quite fast, even one of his shoe laces was untied, and sweat was running down his face. She grinned at him, she wanted to play the mad girl for a moment but was, actually, very pleased to know that he was interested in her, so she turned her back to him to hide her delight.

“Well, I guess you still made it on time. Shall we?”

Garfield raised his head and smiled.

-

_We were something, don't you think so?_

_Rosé flowing with your chosen family_

_And it would've been sweet_

_If it could've been me_

She had the most pleasant afternoon. Still surprised by how of a good company Garfield could be. They went downtown to a lovely-vintage cafe and then ended up in the library. She wasn’t going to suggest it, but Garfield caught her looking at the building and ended up offering it. Rachel recalled laughing internally while seeing Garfield run to the children area and look for some dinosaurs books. And then ended up having some hot-dogs on their way back to the student’s house.

“So, you are telling me you have been living here for the last 4 months yet this is your first time touring around? Why? How?” Garfield was shocked by Raven’s confession, she only raised her shoulders, a little ashamed.

“I mean, I did go out a few times. And when I’d just moved in I went on a trip to learn all the bus routes. So technically, I know all the city.”

“Going out to learn the bus routes is not knowing the city. How did this happen?”

“I did plan going out and stuff but, I felt overwhelmed. I have a scholarship and my stay here depends on that. To be honest, I freaked out when the semester started. So I choose to stay at home and study rather than going out. Not that I didn’t want to.” Garfield looked at her, suspicious of her words. It was the first time he met someone who rather stayed in t study rather than go out, what kind of girl was she? 

Rachel felt the judgement in his eyes “What?” she asked. Garfield stared at her and as strange as he was, he couldn’t keep from smiling when seeing her angry face which looked, to him, as a small kid pouting. “Nothing, don’t get me wrong, you’re just the first person I met that takes their grades that seriously” but as he ended up that sentence, the thought of the classmate he met earlier that day crossed his mind. “Well, maybe second” he said as a shiver ran down his spine remembering the cold eyes he gave to him. He had to shake his head, trying to forget that encounter, he needed to focus on Rachel. 

“So, Rae…”

“Rachel”

“How did a Metropolis girl end up in the great Gotham?”

Rachel was in the middle of biting her hot dog when Garfield asked her the question she had successfully avoided the last four months. She chewed her meal and signed with her hands her full mouth, giving herself a few moments before facing the question.

For a moment, the picture of Kara saying she should open herself to the others cross her mind. She frowned. It was practically Kara’s fault that she was there, but the longer she thought about it, she couldn’t blame her, she'd had a great time, but Garfield isn't someone who understood what privacy meant and that was a no for her. But when looking back at him, he was nice. Perhaps it was time to follow Kara’s advice and open herself more. She studied Garfield’s face one last time before swallowing.

“Do you want the formal version or the true version of it?” suddenly Garfield's attention was all over her. “True version, always.” Rachel took a deep breath and thought one last time what she was about to say.

“I am not a Metropoli-girl as you say. I’m from San Francisco” Garfield opened his mouth in surprise and was about to say something but Rachel cut him off. “I didn’t like it, but I met someone and that someone told me that Gotham was the best place on earth, and over time, that thought stuck with me.”

“Was it worth it? You know they say Metropolis is like the happiest place on earth or something like that” they both laugh.

“It is. But, you know, I love it there, and I’m grateful for the home we built there but I always felt something was missing.” Rachel turned to look at the city behind them. The skyscrapers, the people. “But here I feel I will find something extraordinary”

Garfield looked at her, covered with the city lights and a spark in her eyes and smiled.

“I hope you find it.”

-

When her dorm door closed behind her, she let a heavy breath out. It was 10 PM, which was late for her. She was tired but couldn’t deny she had a good time with Garfield, getting to know the city suited her just fine.

Her hand got into her cardigan’s pocket and took out a postcard from the city, along with a ticket she found in one of the books from the library. She walked into her room and clipped the postcard on the board next to her bed, but the ticket went to a different place.

Rachel opened her nightstand and took out a small music box. Her secret music box. All of her precious memories were there.

A rock from her first visit to the lakes outside of Metropolis, a whisker and a claw from Alfred. A stone gift from Jon, who claimed “they looked alike”. The stone at first sight was all dark, but when seeing it against the light you could see some red-purple-ish color. She had as well a spike, from Ken’ts farm. A pair of earrings along with a birthday note her mother gave to her on her sweet sixteen’s birthday. 

And many more things were saved there, her treasure that she’d never shown to anyone before. 

She was going to place the ticket behind Arella’s birthday note, when something caught her eye. At the bottom of the box, perfectly folded and kept in a sealed plastic bag, there was an olive tissue. She took it out and extended it in front of her, her eyes going directly to the bottom right corner, where the initials DAW, were embroidedwith gold strings

She smiled at the thought of his old beloved friend. 

Out of instinct, she took the tissue and put it over her face and lay back against her back.

It no longer held an essence, but she could still sense the clove and vanilla smell it once held. It felt safe. She stood there without moving a single hair for a few minutes.

She pressed the weave against her heart “The city is amazing…” she said to herself but thinking that somehow, through the distance that old friendly soul could feel all her best wishes and love.

-

_In my defense, I have none_

_For digging up the grave another time_

  
  


_Earlier that day_

He ran as fast as his legs allowed him. He entered the building with a “03” on the front and searched for his classroom “101, 102… Gotcha!” said while opening the door, just in time, it was empty. Or that was what he thought.

“Logan.” The deep voice of his classmate took him out of his thoughts and turned his head to see him while the olive-skin boy turned his eyes to the notebook on his desk, ignoring Logan.

“Damian! I never thought that I would say this, but I’m glad to see you!” the emerald-eye boy raised an eyebrow.

“I have an emergency and I have to go. Can you give this to miss Ivy for me, please? I’ll owe you one” he said, putting out an USB from his bag, with a smile on his face, trying to earn some sympathy from him. Damian stopped his pencil, and slowly lifted his gaze to look Garfield in the eye. He felt his body froze. He was going to help him, was he?

“No.”

Garfield fell to his knees “Please, man. I know you don’t like me and that’s totally fine but I’m begging you, this is the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen and she accepted to go out with me. I, I, I will owe you 2, no! Three! Whatever you want, I won’t even gonna ask. You just deliver this and we are done” he said, placing the USB on his desk, wanting to go, but Damian didn’t move a hair.

“Listen man, I really need to go now, I only have 5 minutes left or I’m going to…” Garfield continued to cry, using a very high-pitch voice. Annoying. “Please, just take it, take it, please” Garfield started to draw up the small piece to him. Damian rolled his eyes. Pathetic, he thought, and extended his hand to Garfield’s face, who stopped his cries and turned to see him again.

Though Garfield's intentions were to convince him to actually hand his work to Miss Ivy, he wasn’t sure Damian was actually going to accept. “You are going to help me?” 

“You have three seconds before I change my mind. One…” said coldly without even looking back. Garfield hurry to place the USB in his hand and hurry to run out of the room thanking the boy.

“-TT-”

Damian placed his fingers at his nose bridge. applying some pressure. A date, unthinkable. Irresponsible. There was nothing Logan could actually offer to him to pay him back. 

A buzz took him out of his thoughts. Damian took his phone out of his pocket to found a message from Jon, his old friend.

_Alfred says hi._

He opened the text and was pleased by what he saw. Black furr, with four very elegant white gloves and a snowy belly. Amber eyes looking straight at the camera while stretching those paws. Ah, yes. A cat. Beautiful creature. 10/10. Jon’s neighbour cat, exactly what he needed to stop thinking about Logan.

He was about to start typing his thoughts on the magnificent little beast when his phone started buzzing again, this time, with a call. No, worse. A video call. He sighed, and slid the green option, knowing better.

“Jon”

_“Heyyy, I thought you were free since you read my message”_

_“_ I am, but I’m about to start a class.”

_“I’m super bored, and my neighbour lent me her cat for a few hours so I’m not lonely.”_ Damian was about to make up an excuse to end the call when Jon put at the black cat in front of the camera. As if out of his instincts, Damian smiled.

“Alfred” he greeted the cat, who Meow in response, and Damian could feel his inside purr in response. Damian loved animals.

Jon appeared once again on the screen and Alfred the cat ran out of the room and Damian’s face went back to his neutral nature. “How are you dealing with chickenpox?”

_“Itchy, but that’s why Alfred is such a great company at this time, my mom glued this kitchen gloves to my hands so I don’t scratch, but Alfred kneads me every now and then…”_ In the middle of the story, Miss Ivy entered the room.

“Mister Wayne” she greeted him and Damian nodded in return.

“I have to go now.”

_“What?! Oh, alright…_ ” Jon felt disappointed

“Feel free to send me more pictures from Alfred.”

_“Will you block me if I send photos of my chickenpox too?”_ Jon smiled.

“Absolutely”

_“Oww, well, alright, talk to you later. Oh, did I tell you Alfred’s owner is in Gotham? You should totally meet Ra...”_ Two classmates enter the room. “Sorry, Jon. I have to go. Do not scratch yourself nor with Alfred, have some respect” was the last thing to say before hanging up the call and standing up and walking to Miss Ivy to deliver Logan’s errand.

-

The afternoon went by calmly. After having a long morning attending this University events as a Wayne and then going through all the classes, with everyone staring at him or worshipping him and his family, he was happy to be back at home.

Finally able to relax for a while, Damian let himself sink into the mattress, still with the suit on he had to use that morning and his briefcase in hand. He stretched and rubbed his face with his hands. 

He was used to being a busy man, but today had drained him. He let go a sight of release when he felt his muscles starting to soften, he could fall asleep right now right there, but the sound of a small tiptoes outside his bedroom put him on guard, knowing exactly what was coming.

“You are home!” the small dark head of his little sister peek out of the door, her blue wide eyes looking at him. “I’m home” he said without moving from his spot as the girl walked and climbed the bed and sat on her knees next to him. 

“You look tired” she said with a glimpse of prejudice in her voice, wondering why he was so tired. He looked back at her and raised an eyebrow in return.

“Why are you still wearing the clothes from this morning event, Helena?” the little girl smiled, happy about the question.

“Because I look pretty with it.” She stood on her feet and Damian sat and observed the girl who was spinning in her place, showing off her beautiful periwinkle dress. “But I have to take off my ribbon for my nap, but still, mom said I looked adorable in my sleep” she smirked at it and turned to see his older brother, waiting for a compliment. Damian rolled his eyes, but knew better “You look charming” and Helena smiled and sat again, satisfied with the answer.

If there was a sibling who he couldn’t neglect anything, it was Helena. He went from being the younger kid to be the big brother, since he was the one closer in age to Helena. He was 10 when Helena was born, and though at first he thought of her as an “unavoidable irritation”, he became very fond of his little sister.

In other circumstances, if Jason or Tim would have even tried to take his briefcase, he would have cut their hands without hesitating. Perhaps Dick or Cassandra would have gotten away with touching it, but no one could have gotten away with taking out his sketchbook and opening it without missing a limb or their lives, only Helena could brag about that right.

And she knew it.

That’s why she lay on the bed and started looking at Damian’s sketchbook as if it were one of her princess magazines. “You made this today?” Helena said pointing at the sketch he started doing before Garfield interrupted him.

“She doesn’t have a face. Why doesn't she have a face?”

“I…” Damian stopped for a moment. It lived in his mind the picture of this girl, but was never sure of who she was or if she was even real.”I haven’t found her face yet.”

“Can I draw one for her? I bet she's smiling”

“You have your own notebook to draw as many faces as you wish”

The girl pouted but before being able to speak the figure of a woman stood at the door.

“Helena.” the girl froze for a second but turned with a big smile to the woman.

“Yes, mom?”

“What did I send you here for?” said calmly.

“Oh, yes. Dinner is ready!” Both Damian and the woman smile tenderly.

“Thank you, sweety. Hello Damian.” he nodded, murmuring a _Selina_ , in return “Come with me Helena, let your brother change.” The girl replied with a yes and ran to take her mother’s hand and both left, as Helena waved her way out.

Damian smiled watching his seven year old sibling left. His gaze went to the open sketchbook in the bed.

Hopefully one day he would be able to finnish that drawing, along with the other ones saved in his drawer.

Maybe one day, he would finally find the face with the blue-amethyst eyes he dreamed for so long.

_But it would've been fun_

_If you would've been the one_

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well this is the second part from my series "The love lasts so long", sadly, in this part, our lovebirds won't find eachother (Or will they?( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)). Rather than that, I wanted to explore a little bit their relationships with other characters. I love the hc of Raven being part of the Supes family, but I also wanted her have her mom so I managed to link them and I'm so happy for it, also, I loved Dami as the younger sibling, but Big bro Damian was something I didn't know I needed, which is why I made BrucexSelina happened, I hope you don't mind. Anyway, I appreciate very much all the support "Seven" got from all of you. Thank you for reading, and let me know your thoughts :)
> 
> Last but not least, as the now Taylor Swift apologist I have become, listen to Folklore and Evemore. What song do you think I will use for the next chapter?
> 
> Love to all of you!


	2. Willow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As the name suggests it, this chapter is inspired mostly by "Willow" (both song and video) by Taylor Swift. "August" and "Right were you left me" were also an important source of inspiration and, surpirse, a non-TS song, "Something inside" by Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, from the movie August Rush. 
> 
> Enjoy.

_I'm like the water when your ship rolled in that night_

_Rough on the surface but you cut through like a knife_

Damian had been at it the whole week. At every chance he got, he was once again sitting at his desk, painting. Out of all his siblings, he was the most immaculate when having his room and stuff in place, but now, his room was unrecognizable. 

The carpet of his room was no longer maroon, it was now all covered in white from all the paper balls he had thrown over the last days. Even Cassandra had stopped by with a 3-year-old Helena to have a “snow fight”.

Luckily, neither of his other three siblings were around _yet_ , because he knew if they got to see his room in such a state, they would never let him go with it. 

He needed to clean. He knew it. 

But couldn’t stop himself. Not yet.

He felt frustrated. He had learned over the years to cope up with that sensation but what he didn’t know what to do with was to be out of control. And boy, he felt helpless.

Damian had woken up from a dream in the middle of the night a few days ago, with the need to draw. He was drawing a woman but couldn’t finnish it. Something was always wrong since the picture in his mind wasn’t clear either.

It was a woman, for sure. With pearly skin with silky, long-ebony hair in a white dress that made her look as if frozen in time. She was standing there, watching the city infront of her. It was not Gotham, yet he knew the place long ago.

But in the dream, he couldn’t reach her. At some point she turned to see him and that’s when he met her eyes. Indigo eyes were the only thing he could recognize. But unlike all the million times he had drawn before, he couldn’t finish the face. Heck, right now he couldn’t even begin.

He fidgeted in his seat and furrowed his brows.

“This ends now” he said to himself, straightening his back ready to attack.

  
  


_-_

  
  


“Mother?” Damian’s eyes widened when he noticed Talia standing at the entrance of the manor. “What is my mother doing here, Kyle?”

Selina rolled her eyes at the way Damian called her. Damian was the last of the Wayne kids to accept her relation with his father, but they make amends sooner than later and after Helena was born, Damian somehow became his best partner by being the best big brother to her kid. But he was still an Al Ghul-Wayne and was proud as hell and was not afraid of showing his displeasure. And of course a 14 year old boy didn’t want his mother to be notified when suffering minimal harm, knowing very well she was going to baby him.

Selina Kyle and Talia Al Ghul didn’t have a great relationship at the beginning, but circumstances lead Talia to be Selina’s partner at Helena’s birth and find in each other a confident and someone to complain about Bruce, so of course they got more than well after that. 

And since Talia was usually out of town (and the country), she had to trust Selina with her babies, so every minimal situation that happened to any of the kids in the manor was notified to the Al Ghul heir despite where in the world she could be.

So of course when Talia’s teenager cub went to Selina in pain and without being able to move his hand, she knew what she had to do. Especially after seeing such distress and doubt in Damian’s eyes. 

The closer they got to the manor the clearer they noticed Talia was already with a wheelchair, despite the fact Selina told her clearly it was his hand the problem, now she regretted not waiting for them to be at home first before calling Talia.

“Talia, I believe I told you that it was his hand, the one that got injured, he can walk” Selina said, walking out of the car and walking to open Damian’s door, who was still grumbling in his seat.

“Mother, what are you doing here? You were not supposed to be here until next week.” 

“That was the plan, but if I know one of my children is injured I need to come and take care of them. So please, sit here so I can take you inside. You are stressed and mad and that’s never a good start when in recovering” she patted the wheelchair. Damian rolled his eyes, and Selina, who was taking a knocked out Helena out of the back seat, chuckled, and for her bad luck, Damian gave her the devil’s eyes to it when taking, ashamed, his seat.

“That’s it, my beloved kid. Do not worry, I will take care of you” Talia caressed his cheek and pinch a part of it while placing a kiss on his head. He didn’t like to be babied by his mother or anyone, but he could always use his mother’s companionship to feel better. He sighed and tried to focus on the positive things when the sound of a parking motorcycle took him out of his thoughts. 

_Oh, no._

“Owww, the little cub is injured.” Damian was about to respond when another car arrived and his oldest brother came out running.

“Dami, are you okay? I came as quickly as I could”

“What is happening here?” another head emerged from behind Talia. “Oh, you came out to receive your brother, Tim?” Talia asked the short boy next to her who looked obnoxious of the situation.

“Ah… Yes?” 

“Damian just came back from the doctor, he injured his hand” the face of Cassandra appeared directly to update Tim. 

“Ah, sure, mother.” Tim said carelessly, sipping the beverage from the mug on his hands.

The only person missing was Bruce, but he was just minutes away from being back at the manor, which meant all of his family was officially there.

“This is a nightmare.” 

\- 

_The more that you say_

_The less I know_

_Wherever you stray_

_I follow_

He had survived Talia and Dick’s, ridiculous cares, and to Jason’s annoyances all friday and saturday. On sunday, Damian got to convince his mother and brother that he was capable of being alone for a while, so now Dick was out on a date, Bruce went out with Selina, Talia was probably out catching up with the business she put on stand by just to go to Gotham , Jason was now taking care of Helena, and Tim and Cass dissapeared the moment a friend of theirs, Stephanie, arrived into the manor. 

Now he was alone. 

He shifted in his bed, restless. The problem was that after a few hours with his scandalous family, suddenly the silence felt quite heavy.

He wrinkled his nose.

A measured amount of company would not do him wrong, he thought.

So he went down to the kitchen. A snack or a drink or anything Alfred got to offer would always do him some good, but Alfred was nowhere to be found and instead there were Tim, Cass and Stephanie, cooking?

“Hey, Dames!” Stephanie greeted “ How’s your hand doing?” She smiled.

“Don’t you have another place to be?” said the kid taking a seat in the counter next to Tim who was casually looking at a gossip magazine and drinking coffee.

“Nop. Besides you have a big house, you’ve barely noticed me.” The girl dipped a finger in the mix she was preparing and tasted it. “Hm, do you think this needs more chocolate?” she dipped another finger and gave Cassandra a taste. “It 's perfect. I’m going to turn on the oven.”

Ah, they were baking, that explained Alfred’s absence. Damian fidget in his spot and look around. “What are you drinking?” he asked Tim. “La spécialité de la maison.” 

“Want some, Dames?” said Stephanie grabbing the coffee jar. “Sure”, coffee was never bad.

Stephanie poured the liquid in a mug, Damian was about to grab it when the girl pulled out a can of whipped cream, shook it and poured it all over the coffee. 

“What the fuck?!” Stephanie chef kissed. “You let her do that to your coffee?!”

“You either fight them, or you join them” said Tim unbothered still looking at the magazine.

  
  


_-_

  
  


The kitchen was forbidden as long as the threesome were there. So he headed up to the library, wishing to pick a nice book and read something that might help him paint, once he could move his hand again, of course.

He was about to open the door to the library, when a loud laugh stopped him. Mom?, he thought and entered the room only to find Talia and Selina laughing at the top of their lungs and having a glass of wine.

“Mother? I thought you were out with my father, Selina. What are you doing here?”

“Oh, I was, but I thought I would have a better time with your mother, it’s been Awhile since we catch up”

“The sunday meetings are the worst, aren’t they?” Talia sipped her glass.

“I mean, what are you doing here in the library.”

“Well, I came here to do some calls and stayed here reading for a while when Selina brought this delicious bottle of wine. Besides, you know the library has one of the best views, my dear”

Damian rolled his eyes. It appeared that today was the day his family wouldn’t let him catch his breath. Talia noted her son’s humour and called him in.

“Come here, Damian” he obeyed and sat next to his mother. “How’s your hand feeling?”

“I suppose you could say it is better,” he said, resting its importance.

“You’ll recover well, my son. I promise.” Talia said tenderly, putting her arm around Damian’s shoulder, but Damian’s insecurity wasn’t about his hand and Selina knew it. Perhaps, if she hadn’t had those few glasses of wine, she wouldn’t have said a thing, since she knew better Damian didn’t like people getting in his business, but tipsy Selina had other thoughts in her mind.

“It’s not the hand that is the problem, Talia. He’s strong and will undoubtedly recover.” She glanced at Damian and saw him clenched his eyes to her, but chose to continue. “He hurt his hand because he was drawing all day.”

“Well, it’s only natural…” 

“Mhm” Selina denied, sipping her drink “As the art collectionist I am, I know exactly what happened. You can not draw, right?” she went straight to the point. Talia gasped and turned her sight to see his son.

“Is that true, Damian?” he looked away. “Hey, looked at me.” Damian hesitated but returned his eyes to Talia. “Oh, my sweet, sweet boy, it’s okay.” Talia pressed his head against her head and lay her cheek into his hair. “Every artist goes through that phase, right?” Selina nodded in response.

“I can draw. I just… can’t finnish one simple sketch.”

“You should’ve looked at his room.” Selina said almost in a whisper. Damian stood up, breaking Talia’s hug, and stood with his arms crossed in his chest.

“I’m okay. I just need some peace and resume my work.” 

Talia and Selina cross their eyes for a moment in complicity, and then Talia spoke to Damian again.

“I know you will, Damian” she gave him a warm smile and Damian felt his cheeks turning red, realizing how childish he was acting, and sat again, still not looking either women in the eye. “You know” Talia continued to Selina “My father is also a painter.”

“Really? That I didn’t know.”

“Yes, he’s the one who taught Damian everything he knows. But he’s so proud, he of course only tells the exceptional parts from his story, and taught this hardheaded that discipline is all. Which you will agree is not a lie.” Selina nodded once again, and Damian finally turned to his mother, listening carefully to her words. “He worked hard day and night to achieve perfection. That 's his rule. But I remember when I was about your age, after my mother passed, he couldn’t paint either. He actually quit for years. Until one day, he took a few steps back. He went right to the beginning. Started all over again, found a new motive to paint and he hasn't stopped ever since.”

“Grandfather really couldn’t paint?” Damian was astounded. 

“He locked everything in a room and sealed it for years.” Talia combed Damian 's hair. “You know he’s such a drama queen.” Damian snorted. “You know, my favorite art of yours were those drawings you made when we were in San Francisco. You really poured your heart in them. Perhaps you should take a few steps back too and gave them a look”

Damian’s eyes widened as the memory of him painting suddenly came to his mind. “I don’t think I’ve seen those in years.” he said.

“Why don't you go ask Alfred, Damian?.” Selina said.

-

  
  


_Head on the pillow, I could feel you sneaking in_

_As if you were a mythical thing_

_Like you were a trophy or a champion ring_

_And there was one prize I'd cheat to win_

The art room was one of the few places he had barely been at. For some reason, even though it had perfect lighting, he didn’t like it. He’d rather paint in his dorm or the library, and on certain occasions, the garden would be a great spot too. 

But this place was practically new to him, but it was where Alfred sent him to look for that old sketchbook. He wasn’t entirely sure that finding it would help him out, but he was hoping that looking at some old paintings he would find something that caught his eye.

He went there looking for copper but found gold when he discovered Jason, Tim and Dick’s old drawings. When Bruce had just adopted his brothers, he didn’t know what to do with them so he left them be, in Talia’s words, tramps.

But once Talia stepped in the scene and adopted them as her children too, she put them “in line”, and art classes didn’t wait. Of course, Talia noticed quickly that drawing and painting wasn’t of their interest, so after learning the basic skills, she allowed them to choose their own path. 

And thanks to that, he now possessed enough evidence to tear them down after their shameless teasing this past weekend. Ah, yes. Sweet revenge.

“Damii~” the high pitched call of Helena pulled him out of his thoughts, and turned to see the little girl on Jason’s shoulders.

“Hey, Dami. This kitten has been looking for you.”

“Did you, Helena?” the girl chuckled and stretched her arms to Damian. Damian approached and the girl moved easily from Jason to Damian’s shoulders, and giggled once she was there.

“So, what are you doing here? This is not your zone”

“It is not and it is also not of your business but I’m looking for some old sketchbooks”

“Well, mister. It is my business since mom sent me here to help you.”

Damian clicked his tongue. “I’m alright by myself. You go out of my sight and I’ll say you deserved the award of the year for helping me out. I'll add a tear or two if you wish.” said turning to the shelves.

Jason placed his hands on his hips and snorted a loud laugh. “Because you can do everything by yourself, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, sir I-know-it-all, have you checked in the cellar?” Damian freeze.

“Aren’t we in the cellar?”

“This is only the cellar for props and some old papers, but since you know it all, I guess you’ll know where the real cellar is so, hasta la vista” Jason started walking to the exit.

“Wait.” Jason stood in his place but without turning to see the boy. Damian raised his eyes to meet the blue ones from Helena as if asking for her opinion and the little girl just nodded. He sighed.

“Just said the words, Dami” Jason teased.

“Can you please help me?” There it was.

Turned out that the cellar was really a secret room, hidden behind a Thomas Wayne painting. When asking Jason how he knew the place, he said “This was my spot to run away from mom when she was angry.”

It didn’t take them a lot of time to find some of Damian’s old sketchbooks but not the one his mother talked about. He also found his brother’s, and found out they did well at drawing, they were just tramps that didn’t appreciate that art enough, so no teasing for them. .

“Pretty!” Helena giggled and Damian turned his eyes from the papers in his hands just to find Jason showing around _that_ sketchbook. 

“Hey, that’s mine!” For the second time in the day, he felt the heat reach his face and Jason smirked when noticing Damian’s ear turning red.

“And what is this, Hel?” 

“Little birdie! Very pretty!” When hearing his little sister’s praises, Damian softened his body and walked and sat next to the pair. His eyes widened watching the draw he had made so long ago.

A raven and a robin next to each other.

Technically speaking, it was not bad giving the thought that it was made by a seven year old, but it was primitive compared to the realism he had perfected through the years. But Talia was right, it was fresh and honest. 

“This is really good, y'know.” The voice of Jason surprised him. “You shouldn’t push yourself so hard, whatever or wherever you want to reach, you will get there.” No teasing in his voice.

They were a nightmare most of the time, but his family was everything to him.

  
  


_-_

  
  


A few weeks passed and Damian's recovery went on without any trouble. And now he was ready to draw again.

“Richard, stay still,” he groaned.

“I’m sorry, Dami, I just need a moment to find my best angle, this is the first time someone paints me like this.”

“Just sit down in the chair!”

Damian decided to put aside the drawing from his dream, he would get there eventually, but right now, he was going to start by drawing the precious things in his life.

  
  


-

  
  


_You know that my train could take you home_

_Anywhere else is hollow_

_I'm begging for you to take my hand_

_Wreck my plans_

“Damian, over here!” The once small baby sister was now a tall and enthusiastic 10 year old. Her dark hair was now at the length of her shoulders and was adorned with a cat diadem, which he thought would help him recognize her in the crowds but didn’t count with the fact that every girl was now using them as a fashion item. “Hey, if I would’ve wanted you to go a step per minute, I would’ve let father bring me here!” Savaged.

Damian rushed his walk. “You know you don’t need to rush, the fish are going to stay where they are.”

“I know that , silly, but we only have one hour before the magic show and I would like to get there with my chores already done. And I’m making a stop with the otters, and I would very much like to enjoy them calmly”. He sighed. His little sister was definitely all grown up now.

They moved fast and managed to get to the otters room 20 minutes before the so-called magic show, or Fraud Show as Damian liked to call it. Helena ran as fast as her legs allowed her, sneaking through the crowd, and got in the first row to observe the otters.

“Helena, I’m right here” Damian yelled and only managed to see the little arm of the girl emerging from the crowd with her thumb up. Replaced by some otters, not that he blamed her.

Since everyone’s attention was on the furry mammals, Damian walked through the room, never losing Helena from his eye, and took a look at the other tanks. He was now looking at some common fish placed in a big cylinder tank in the middle of the room. Probably if his little sister weren’t so rushed to meet the otters and the magic show, she would’ve enjoyed the visit better, the fishes in front of him were very colorful, very similar to the color pallet Helena would use everywhere. 

Flamboyant colors swimming all over the place. He glanced back at the minor, but was still captive by the brown creatures. He looked back at the fish tank.

His eyes caught a bright blue-purple betta coming up from the ground, the move from its wings was mesmerizing. The creature swimmed up to his eyes height and changed his way to the left. He followed it and…

His eyes widened. 

The betta fish swam to a woman on the other side of the tank. His body had stopped responding. He couldn’t move, captivated by the picture in front of him. A woman with pearly skin, even brighter than in his dreams, ebony hair falling behind her shoulders bathed by the lights of the tank. Arms crossed and eyes lost in the creatures in front of her, she looked like an angel thinking about secrets deeper than the sea itself.

His heart started beating so fast and felt a knot form inside him when her eyes met his own. And as if her eyes were fuel and he was a dry forest, he felt his body burning, adrenaline hit up and suddenly he was ready to run to her.

“Ouch!” Damian quicked something without noticing. “Helena?! Wha-” he had just crashed with Helena who was casually kneeled beside him. Damian stopped a moment and turned to look at the women, but she was no longer there.

“Hey, can you help me? You just cbump me” the girl complained still on the floor. Damian rushed to pick her up.

“Are you okay? When did you get here?” He was so confused and his body was still agitated. His eyes explored the room but there was no sign of the girl. Did he imagine it?

“Just a moment ago, you were so fascinated with the fish that you didn’t even hear me. We have to go to Zatara’s show” she urged the boy by showing her gold-cat watch. 

Damian rubbed his temples. Took a deep breath, trying to find his center. The picture of the woman with indigo eyes and snowy skin appeared in his mind. Tattooed forever there. He opened his eyes and looked at the child.

“Forgive me, Helena, I got lost for a moment. Let 's go.” he said and the girl grabbed his hand, an action that surprised him, he looked at her blue eyes and she looked back.

“Are you okay?” She asked, holding him tight. She was worried. “Never been better.” he answered with a gentle smile. He was not lying, though he could still fill the shivers running down his body, something changed in him. The girl widened her smile and pulled his hand, leading him through the crowd.

“Let 's go!”

  
  


_-_

  
  


_Wait for the signal and I'll meet you after dark_

_Show me the places where the others gave you scars_

  
  


“Can you repeat to me why are we going to the aquarium?”

“Because Zachary invited us to his show and he explicitly said -It’s going to be a special show for Rachel-” said the woman with blue eyes, imitating the voice of the mentioned one. “I believe he wants to ask you out and I know you don’t like him that way but he was very persuasive.”

“That’s exactly why he went for you instead of asking me personally. You are too soft, Donna.” Rachel complained, crossing her arms in her chest. 

“Don’t worry, Jinx and Karen are coming with us too. We won’t leave you alone!”

Rachel sighed, uncomfortable but resigned to meeting Zachary. 

  
  


_-_

We won’t leave you, my ass, Rachel thought.

Her three friends forgot they were 20 and 21, respectively, and the moment they put a foot in the aquarium started acting as little girls and spread all over the place. In another situation, she might have joined her friend's joy but not today. Not when she was there, about to be asked on a date on a magic show. Not that she didn’t like Zachary, he was really nice and had a lot in common but she was not looking for a relationship at the moment and to be publicly asked to it was not motivating her either.

A shriek pulled her out of her thoughts. Donna, Jinx and Karen were bawling over the otter’s family in the tank. They are adorable, she thought watching the little creatures, and smiled at her friends who hadn’t noticed her absence yet. 

She wandered around the room for a while and then went back to the otter tank but only Jinx was there.

“Where are Donna and Karen?”

“They went to the restroom, it’s almost time to go” said the pink haired girl without taking her eyes out of the show-window 

“And why don’t we go now?”

“They want to take one last picture of these little babies, aren’t you the cutest baby?” Yep, her friend was hypnotized. 

“They are the most precious babies” a small girl with cat ears amazed as equal as her friend's answer to Jinx’s comment.

“Yes they are!” and both girls squeak.

“Ok, then I’ll just keep wandering around” she said practically to herself since she knew Jinx wasn’t listening to her.

Rachel walked to the cylinder tank in the middle of the room. The fish in there contrasted from the monochromatic colors from the room. It was nice to see so many colors dancing through the light blue water.

“I wish I was a fish.” she said to herself. As a fish she would not have memory and she could just enjoy the view rather than panicking over giving up to social pressure and accepting Zachary’s proposal or chosing to shame him publicly by rejecting him. 

A black and emerald squamous caught her eyes. So elegant, she thought, even though betta fish were really common fish, they did have from all colors swimming around with their wings making them look like angels. 

She then saw an Indigo betta swimming to her direction, she smiled lightly but soon she felt herself freeze and her eyes widened when she looked up and caught with a pair of emerald eyes looking right straight to her.

She swallowed hard but felt a twist in her throat. Was time still running? She couldn’t know, she felt as if she was suspended in time. Have they been at it one second or a decade?

For a brief moment she thought she saw him move but disappeared from her sight and almost immediately felt her arm being pulled. She felt dizzy. There were no more colors around her but only the dark and cold halls from the aquarium

“Rae, we have to now! Zachary said we needed to be five minutes earlier, he saved us some seats!”

“Donna?” Rachel barely understood what her friend told, but she let her guided her.

They finally arrived at the small auditorium where the show was going to take its course. Zachary has set aside four seats in the first row, they were the first ones to get into the room. Rachel sat and hid her face in her hands, still feeling giddy. Who was that? And why did she feel like that?

“Everything okay, Rae?” Donna asked. 

“You looked as if you had just watched a ghost,” Karen added. Raven rubbed her face.

“Yes…” said, still feeling disturbed. “Actually, I think I forgot something behind, save my seat.”

“What? Rae comeback!” Donna said, but Rachel ran away, leaving through the exit door at the left side of the bleachers.

  
  


-

  
  


Rachel went back to the otter’s room but it was now empty. Everyone was at the show yet, she was there. She stood in front of the betta’s tank, and her eyes searched for the indigo fish as if expecting it would bring with it those emerald eyes behind it, but it didn’t. 

She just stood there and stared, right where she saw him. Time went on everybody else but she didn’t notice until her name came out of Donna’s voice.

“Rachel! There you are!” Rachel blink and turn to see her friend. “You missed the show!”

“Seriously? But I just left…” she pulled her cell phone out and her eyes opened like plates when seeing all the missing calls and realizing how she was out for almost an hour.

“Good thing you weren’t there. Turns out you were right” Karen entered the room.

“Zachary transformed a seagull into dozens of roses, and by the look on his faces when he realized you weren’t there, I’m pretty sure they were for you.” Rachel furrowed her brows at Jinx words.

“Yeah, he ended up giving them to a little girl. Her cat diadem was adorable. If those would’ve been around when I was her age, I’d totally pull out that look” Karen affirmed.

“You are still young to use those, Karen. I believe they sell some kind of hats like that at the souvenir store, should we go there?” Both Jinx and Karen scream a Yes to Donna’s suggestion, but Rachel’s attention was still out in the room. “Rachel?” She finally turned to look at her friends. 

“Sure, let 's go.”

And so, the group of friends abandoned the place as the emerald and indigo fish swam around together, oblivious of the world outside.

  
  


_-_

_Now this is an open-shut case_

_Guess I should've known from the look on your face_

_Every bait and switch was a work of art_

At 4PM they arrived at the manor, after having so much fun and eating a lot of fries, Helena was sleeping as a rock. Damian had to carry her to her room along with the flowers she got from the magic show..

“Thank you for taking her, Damian.” Selina appeared at the door of the girl’s room. “Your father was really upset when Helena dissed us from accompanying her.” She walked to the bed and started taking Helena’s sneakers out. “I know she had the best of times with you, as usual.”

Damian smiled and his mind went to his fugacious encounter, earlier. “It is always my pleasure.” his mind wandered through the whole day, and the face of her appeared clear as ever. He felt an urge inside him and a tickling ran through his hand.

“Is anything wrong?” Damian raised his eyes to look at his stepmother, and followed to stand up.

“Not at all. I’m going to pick something out of my room and I’ll head up to the frat.” 

“You are not staying for dinner?”

“I have...” He lowered his eyes. “Something to do.”

Selina narrowed her eyes, and a thigh-lip smile lit up her face as if knowing what he was talking about. “Well, then. You’ll show us later.” She wink at him and Damian felt ashamed of being discovered, but chose to say nothing and left.

Something inside him was driving him on now that he found her.

  
  
  


_Life was a willow and it bent right to your wind..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can not believe I wrote +5k words in two days. I have a blast writing this chapter, seriously, I love writing the batfamily or any moment that makes Damian and Raven happy. I'm still new to DC so I'm sorry if some characters seemed a little bit ooc, but I did my best! For real I was so happy writing this (I love Talia and Selina being cougar moms) and I found myself sobbing when writting the aquarium scene, I hated myself for not letting them just meet and make out *sighs*.
> 
> Anyways, I hope you like it as much as I did. Let me know what do you think! Next chapter is the last one from Part 2, any ideas what will happen there? Thank you for reading and sticking around through this journey with me. Lots of love 💖


	3. Invisible string

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song for this chapter is "Invisible string" by Taylor Swift.

_Green was the color of the grass_

_Where I used to read at Centennial Park_

_I used to think I would meet somebody there_

7 years.

The wind crashed all over her face, her short dark hair waving through it. Her right cheek laid over her arm against the car door, annoyed by the long trip.

“Rachel, get inside, I’m turning on the cooler” the older woman sitting in the driver's seat spoke. The girl, almost an exact replica of her mother, wrinkle her nose.

“It 's Raven.” 

“I’m sorry, miss Raven, please, get inside so I can turn the cooler” Raven let herself sink on her seat with her brows knitted, arms crossed. Arella sighed.

“Honey, you’ve been making that face ever since we left San Francisco. I thought you were excited to leave.” the worry in her voice was notable.

“I am, I just can’t understand why we are going to Metropolis. Gotham is almost there.” Raven let her arms fall out, defeated. Her eyes look out through the window. “I didn’t have the chance to say goodbye.” said under her breath, but Arella managed to hear it. It broke her heart. 

Arella never saw Raven so happy as she was that last summer, but they were offered the help and the opportunity to leave the hellhole they were living under Raven’s father, Trigon, care, she didn’t think twice about it twice. They stood at a center for women victims of domestic violence, her sister was happy to help them out when she was offered the chance to move out of town. Raven was thrilled at the beginning but was not happy with the final destination.

Arella’s hand clenched on the handle. You took the right decision, she thought to herself although it was hard to convince herself when her daughter was so blue about it.

“You know, your auntie told me there was a circus in Metropolis for the weekend. I think we will be able to go.” Raven sighed without taking her eyes from the window.

Silence settled down. 

They stood like that for a few moments.

“There 's al…”

“Why are we going to Metropolis?” both speak at the sametime, but Arella shush as Raven’s eyes were on her. 

“Is a great city, one of the best with great schools. It has one of the biggest libraries in the country and I was offered a good job there, sweetie.”

“Couldn’t you just ask for a job in Gotham? Is just a finger of distance.” said as looking at her finger on the map, measuring the distance between the two cities. Arella smiled at the sight of that. 

“It’s not that simple, Rae. But I promise you we are going to be alright.” the girl twitched in her seat. “And maybe, we can go to Gotham one day. Would that be okay to you?” Raven’s eyes shine bright at the said of those words and nodd. Her frown relaxed and smiled. She’ll meet her friend soon.

-

“Dami, play with me!” the small kid reached Damian’s sleeve and started pulling over while howling, Damian stood still in his seat at the big couch, ignoring the boy.

“Damian, we are here to have a pleasant time, why won’t you play with Jon?” Damian glanced at his mother with an unfriendly face, but Talia, knowing his child, held her eyes on him. Tension started to feel in the air, but neither of them lowered their sight. Talia then proceeded to raise her brow, dead serious, and that’s when Damian rolled his eyes and folded his notebook and let the little Jon lead him through the garden.

Talia smirked triumphant and turned her eyes to Lois, Jon’s mom.

“Mom’s eyes work everytime” said Lois, sipping her drink. “Don’t mean to be rude but, isn’t he grumpier than usual?” 

Talia sighed. “It is. I thought that coming here on our way back to Gotham would do him some good but he is... “ she struggled finding the right words to express herself.

“Tough? Stubborn? A replica of his father?” 

“A nut hard to crack. And all you said before.” Lois laughed out loud at Talia’s words. Though they’ve met for somewhere around ten years, Talia rarely lost formality and would always make use of fancy words, so it was quite an experience to see her use of idioms or slangs.

“I can tell it's hard enough if you’re using those common words.” she mocked.

“What else is left to do with a seven year-old and four teenagers?” Lois raised her brow and shook her head, taking another sip of her drink.

Out of nowhere, the sound of an explosion was heard at the back of the house. Lois put her eyes in blank and Talia only closed hers..

“I was just thinking they were too quiet”

“Cassandra is with them so I assure you the farm is safe but we should go for an extinguisher.”

The sound of something crashing followed.

Silence.

“Ohm, hey ma…” The voice of Conner, Lois' older kid called.

“Mom” Dick voice’s followed.

“Ma” Jason called.

“Mama” then Cassandra.

“Mom” and lastly Tim.

Both women turned their heads to the smallest boys, and they stood still. 

“We are playing here.” Damian said before pulling the 5 year old deeper into the living room.

Talia and Lois sighed one more time, before abandoning the kitchen and leading their way to their very much loved yet smashing kids.

_-_

_Teal was the color of your shirt_

_When you were sixteen at the yogurt shop_

_You used to work at to make a little money_

13 years.

“Our school is renowned as one of the best, not only in our teaching methods, but also the safe spaces we offer and the community we create inside these walls. Empathy and cooperation are very important values that we assure to work, and in order to do so, from now on, youou, our best students, will be provided with a junior student for you to tutor. Remember, when we help others, we help ourselves.”

Those were the principal's words before designating all of the “Super students” (That’s how they’d call all of the students with the highest average) their new pupils. For Raven, now called Rachel, it was annoying but it was an important task since it was going to be part of her academic curriculum. Her eyes lowered to read the paper again with the name of her new student.

_Jonathan Samuel Kent, 11._

She was told to meet him in the library at 12:45, desk 17. So there she was. Her brows furrowed in consternation when noticing the boy concentrated in a drawing on the top of his chores.

“Ah… Jonathan?” she called. The kid didn’t raise his eyes, and instead with his left hand gestured to her to hold on. Rachel stood there, observing the boy completely focus on the paper.

“Aha!” he finally lifted himself and took the paper in his hands. “What do you think?” Rachel was confused and speechless. Was that a monkey or something between a dwarf and a pony? Was that the boy she was going to tutor? God helps her, she thought.

“Ah, is interesting.” She finally said.

“I’m still going to color it and Godzilla is going to look awesome.”

“That’s Godzilla?” she asked unbelieving but repeated again when Jon lifted his eyes to her. “I mean, yes, it’s very clear. Color will settle just fine.”

“Awesome! Oh, I’m Jon, by the way.” he beamed and Rachel relaxed at Jon’s friendly aura. “Rachel.” she extended her hand and Jonn grabbed it. “Rachel Roth. I believe I’m your designated tutor.”

“Sweet!”

_-_

The Kent’s house had this charming warm, it felt cozy all the time and the people living there were no less. It was a stroke of luck that Jon lived a few blocks away from her home and that the Kent’s welcomed her so easily in their home.

They quickly became like family.

Clark would pick them out from school and Rachel would eat with them and after that, she and Jon would spend an hour or two doing their chores until Arella would knock on their door and after having dinner all together, both Raven and Arella would come back home and so another day began.

“You got almost all of them right Jon, but check the exercise 4 and 10. You got this.” Rachel returned the boy his notebook. He scratched his head with the pencil studying his notes.

“You’re doing great Jon, here” Lois enter the room with a tray with a jar in it. “You need to stay hydrated.” 

“Thank you, misses Kent.”

“Again, call me Lois, Rachel.” said leaving the room again. Jon stopped his chores to serve the liquid and took a big drink to his beverage but his whole face furrowed when swallowing.

“Is iced tea” he complained, clicking his tongue trying to get through the flavor, his brows knitted together.

“And is a better drink rather than those sodas you love so much.” Lois returned into the room this time with a small box in hand with the word “ _Sprinkles”_ in it. Jon’s eyes stretched in joy when looking at it.

“Here. Take as much as you want Rachel, these cupcakes are quite a thing.” Rachel nodded and picked one but without eating it. Her eyes were studying the delicate lavender dessert in her hands, it looked delicious and the cream looked like a cloud, very tempting, but she was trying to figure where or why it was familiar.

“Where did you get this, mom?!”

“Bruce came to Metropolis and while he was at a business meeting, Alfred came to deliver this. Damian sent them.” 

“Awesome!”

“I’m sorry, Miss-Lois, where are these from?” Finally Rachel lifted her eyes to the woman.

“Dwamwan brwouwht thwem fwom Wothwam” Jon spoke with his mouth full of bread.

“Sweetie, don’t talk with your mouth full. From Gotham.” Rachel’s eyes sparkled at the mention of her favorite town. “We have some friends there and they usually send things every now and then.”

Jon swallowed hard and jumped in the conversation “They own this cupcake store, don't they, mom?”

Lois rolled her eyes at the mention of it. “Yes, they do. I believe this is a very famous branch from the west coast, perhaps you knew them from before?”

Rachel thought she had a brief memory of her eating them at the park? “Probably, I thought the logo was quite familiar, but I can’t remember”

“Well, a few years ago these friends were going through a hard time and they cuddled up all their kids during that time. Damian, Jon’s friend, loved these things so his father bought the chain and opened one in Gotham, can you believe it?” Rachel bit her cupcake and felt like a deja vu.

Her eyes flutter.

“Are you ok, Rae?” Jon asked, Rachel hurried to smile at the Kent’s.

“I’m great, this is delicious, thank you for sharing them with me.” 

“Next time I’ll ask Damian to send some extras for you too!”

Rachel kept smiling, perhaps Metropolis was never her first choice, but she did build a home. 

-

_Time, curious time_

_Gave me no compasses, gave me no signs_

_Were there clues I didn't see?_

15 years 

“Now, this is an annual trip we do to visit Gotham’s National Park. It has one of the largest nurseries on the east coast. I assure you it will be a very enriching experience. In order to go on the trip, it is necessary that you bring your permits next friday. Any doubts?”

-

Three days before the trip, news came in a rush, turning upside down Rachel’s hopes on finally meeting Gotham.

_“A criminal known as “The Joker” escaped Arkham’s Prison two days ago and today he went on live announcing that he had placed different explosives all along Gotham’s bridges, threatening to explode them at any time. Gotham’s PD is currently at the place doing an investigation and searching for the threats. We’ll keep you informed. Stay home, stay tuned.”_

School trip was cancelled.

-

Two weeks later after the incident, which happened to be only a false threat, the criminal was recaptured and everything went on as usual. But that Saturday morning started different when a knock was heard at Kent’s door.

“Damian? Tim?”

“Hi, Clark!”

“Hello, Clark.” Both boys greeted and entered the house. Damian was helding two packages in hand and both heads from Lois and Jon appeared from the kitchen.

“Dami! Tim! What are you doing here?” Jon approaches his friend. Steps were heard coming down the stairs and suddenly the oldest Kent boy was down too.

“Tim! Can’t believe you are here!” they hugged. Jon imitated Conner’s actions and approached Damian who quickly placed the packages in his chest.

“These are yours.” Jon took a glimpse at them and smiled at recognizing the cupcake box.

“Awesome! And you remember to bring two! Thank you!”

“Thank you Damian, Tim, we just got breakfast but I can prepare you something if you haven’t…” Tim interrupted gently. “Thank you Lois, we had breakfast on the helicopter.” 

“How odd of you.” Clark added sarcastically.

“Is it ok if Conner and I go take a stroll?” Conner turned to see Lois with her arms crossed in her chest and nodded. “Let me get changed!” and both kids disappear over the stairs.

“Do you have any plan in mind, Damian?” Clark asked the younger kids, but before Damian could say anything, Jon spoke.

“Ma, can we go deliver Rae’s cupcakes?”

“Sure, honey, Arella told me she was feeling sick. I bet this will make her feel better.” Damian went deeper into the living room and took a seat. “Dami, stand up, we are going to Rae’s”

Damian took a magazine placed on the couch and followed to whip through it. “Don’t worry, Jon. I’ll wait for you here, since I do not wish to get sick. I’ll wait for you to come back and take a shower.”

Jon squinted his eyes.

-

After a five minutes rant about how he should accompany him to visit his sick neighbour, Damian was obliged to agree. So they were there. two blocks away from Kent’s house. Jon walked to the door while Damian stood behind, still skeptic of being there.

The door opened and a pair of blue eyes appeared in front of them. “Jon! I didn’t expect you here.” the woman greeted the boy happily.

“Good morning Arella, this is my friend Damian.” Damian only lifted his hand as a sign of acknowledgment and Arella nodded in return with a big smile. “He came from Gotham today and brought these cupcakes for Rae, these are her favorites.” 

“Oh my, thank you very much boys. I will give them to her, but I don’t think you should see her right now, she’s got the flu and woke up with some fever. She’s still sleeping.”

“Don’t worry, I hope she feels better! I’ll come to see her on monday!”

“Sure, honey, thank you very much, she will be very happy, and thank you to Damian. I’ll tell her you passed by” She waved the kids goodbye and closed the door, and so the kids returned to Jon’s house.

As for Rachel, after a few hours, fever went down and once she bit the precious dessert, color returned to her face. She felt better quickly after that.

-

_Time, mystical time_

_Cuttin' me open, then healin' me fine_

_Were there clues I didn't see?_

17 years

It was last year of high school and Rachel, her tutoring sessions with Jon were reduced since she spent the last weeks studying at the library, warming up for her college exams.

She had already a scholarship offered at Metropolis University, but she was going for the big fish. In two weeks it was going to be their exam-trip to Gotham. She couldn’t mess it up.

But, boy, was she tired. It was past 8 PM when she headed to her house. Her eyes burned and she could feel a burden in her shoulders out of her bad posture while reading. She closed her eyes while her hand went up her neck, applying some pressure trying to find some relief, when she heard in an alley the sound of a trash can falling down.

She froze and thought of the worst. Perhaps she could still manage to run away or she could yell. A second past, and then another and Rachel realized that there was no one there. She turned her head and found nothing.

She took a step ready to continue her way when another different sound caught her attention.

_Meow._

Immediately, she grabbed her phone and turned on the flashlight and found instantly a black cat with white gloves, licking its paws. Rachel held back a smile but turned serious again when noticing that the paw the creature was licking, was hurt.

“Hey cutie pie, what happened to you” she spoke gently as she crawled near the cat, trying not to scare him. Luckily, the cat looked at her in the eyes and as if it decided to trust her, it approached to her. She didn’t think twice before petting him.

The animal was very friendly, she was able to pick him up. It was just a scratch, but she couldn’t leave him there.

“She will understand,” she said to herself before wrapping the cat in her sweater, she looked down at the creature in her arms and smiled at him, observing his little face.

“You have the face of a nice old man.” 

_Meow._

“I shall call you, Alfred.”

_Meow._

It seemed to her that he was agreeing with her so she held him tight and headed home. 

_-_

_And isn't it just so pretty to think_

The exam was a piece of cake, or at least, that was what she wanted to believe since she finished it before everyone.

“It is not a competition, it is just a measurement of your knowledge and abilities.” she repeated to herself.

She unlocked the screen on her cellphone.

11:42

There was still about one hour left before the session ended and she’ll come back to Metropolis along with the rest of her class. Professor Pierce told the class to meet at 1:15, she had enough time to go check out the place, this time all on her own.

The whole place was intimidating and the city was bigger than she could have dreamed. Metropolis was a very modern city but Gotham was on a completely different lever.

If by any chance, she’d had the chance to come when she was still a child, she’d definitely would have sworn those buildings met with the sky at some point.

Rachel started walking, with a hand over her eyes, protecting them from the sun as she would try to see the intersection between the sky and the edifices of the city.

She kept walking hypnotized by her surroundings when suddenly

“Ah!” she yelled, frightened when she crashed against someone else and felt her body falling against the pavement. The unfortunate smack never arrived. Instead she felt her arm being pulled, she opened her eyes to see what saved her from a very painful fall.

A very intense pair of blue eyes, clear as the sky, were opened like plates, holding her tight. “I’m sorry” she nodded, there was something familiar in him “are you okay?”

She shook her head, leaving at the back of her mind the thought of some kind of familiarity with that stranger “Yes. I am sorry, I was not looking where I was walking.” she said, bending her head, apologizing. The boy looked back at her, clenching his face.

“You have quite rare eyes.” he thought out loud.

“Pardon me?” Rachel lifted her eyes to look back at his savior.

“Don’t mind me, I was just thinking out loud. Do I know you?” she blinked a couple of times, trying to recognize his face but nothing came as much as she felt that familiarity with him.

“I don’t think so. I’m from Metropolis.” she pointed at the school shield in her blazer.

_West-Reeve School, Metropolis_

The guy bumped his head. “Of course. I’m Dick, by the way.” he extended his hand.

“Rachel.” Dick was about to say something more when his cell phone started ringing. He gestured to Rachel to hold on.

“Yeah, Dames?... You are done now?... I’m just around the corner, just went to have some sweets” he turned to Rachel and showed her his candies, Want some? he gestured and Rachel only denied with her head. “I’ll be there in a sec.” he hung his phone.

“Sorry about that, and sorry for almost throwing you to the floor, Rachel.”

“Don’t worry, I’m sorry too.”

“Well, I have to go now, my little brother just finished his exame.” Rachel’s eyes softened at those words. Although Dick looked quite older than her, it would always give her a bunch of joy to see older siblings behaving like one. A sudden flashback of her older brothers, who were an exact replica of their old man, tormenting her, came into her mind. She squinted her eyes. Happy thoughts, she thought to herself before opening her eyes and looking back at Dick. “Anyway, sorry again and welcome to Gotham.” Rachel murmure a Thank you and smiled back at him, and just like that, Dick disappeared from her sight.

What a friendly guy, she would take that as a good sign, he did welcome her to the city. Perhaps, she was now a Gothamite, she just didn’t know it yet. She smiled and got back on her way to see the place, giving some small jumps on the road.

Behind her, Dick turned once again. He’d definitely seen her before, those eyes were nothing but uncommon. 

“Richard!” the voice of his younger brother took him out of his thoughts and turned to face him. “You begged me and practically forced me to let you bring me to the exam, now I’m begging you not to force me to stay here any longer.” Damian said, turning his back to Dick, heading down to the parking lot.

“You are grumpier than usual. Is it because it took you 15 minutes longer to finish?” Dick teased the little one, who stopped for a second but without facing Dick.

“-TT-” was the only Dick managed to hear before Damian continued his way.

Dick wished that perhaps now that Damian was going to start college, he would get a girlfriend who will make him less bitter and grumpier. He scratched his chin, thinking about different ways to motivate Damian to dating.

“He could have a pretty girl like Rachel.” he thought and smiled at it. He was going to have a blast once his brother started dating.

-

_All along there was some_

“Look at the camera, here Rae.”

“Mom, please.”

“Come on. Look behind you, it is only natural for us moms to be excited on your first day of college.” Rachel turned to see a beautiful woman with sandy skin and silky dark chocolate hair, pampering his son, his back to them trying to escape from his mother’s hands.

By the time he broke free, Rachel turn again to her mother

“Just say Gotham!”

“Ah, Gotham!”

-Click-

“Let me see, mom” Rachel asked, but Arella pulled her cell phone to her.

“This one doesn’t work, you closed your eyes, let me take another.” she ordered pointing at her spot. Rachel returned and

-Click- 

“Perfect. I’ll send you the photo” she got closer to her daughter. “I love you, go kill them tiger.” Arella kissed her cheek and left. 

A part of Rachel’s heart was aching for leaving her so long home and her mother, but as she turned to admire the enormous campus infront of her, she knew something bigger was expecting her there.

“Everything you wish will come true” she whispered to herself as she stepped into the school.

Little did Rachel know that the photo Arella discarded in first place had captured the Wayne heir, Damian, walking right behind her at the moment of the photo. His emerald eyes were captured looking at Rachel’s back, unaware of who she was and she, unaware of the space they shared and how close yet so far they were from each other.

Little did they know that an invisible thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place and circumstance. 

The thread may stretch or tangle. 

But it will never break.*

.

.

_Invisible string_

_Tying you to me?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the last chapter of part 2 from this series. I'm aware this chapter didn't add that much to the story but I really needed to get this out of my system (yeah, I was dying to write Jon Kent, can't tell if I nailed it but i love that boy, well I love this three kids.) Now we are stepping into the final part of this story, which will be part 3, and I can't wait to start working on it. Thank you everyone for sticking around through this journey, your kind words, kudos and even bookmarks have been inspiring for me, I'll see you soon in the next part! 
> 
> * This quote is literally the chinese proverb about the invisible thread.
> 
> Lots of love to everyone and thank you for reading!


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